DICE: Amazing Gamers Is More Important Than Being #1

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We've always thought the guys at DICE have had their heads screwed on straight.

During a recent Edge interview with DICE general manager Karl Magnus Troedsson, we learn that when it comes to creating their games, they really push themselves. And why, because when it comes to first-person shooters, the fans have crazy high expectations. Said Troedsson:

"If they don't see some kind of new, if not revolutionary then at least evolutionary, step of rendering in every game they will start to lose interest. And I think that is what's happening. Because a lot of franchises out there don't take this seriously; to actually make sure that we don't just challenge ourselves on the gameplay aspect, or perhaps some other area like distribution method, but also how it [feels], how it looks and how it sounds.

DICE has a strong history, for good and for bad, of doing this. We constantly bash ourselves and say, 'We could have done that better'. It might just be a rendering feature but in the end it adds up to the complete experience of what we're doing."

As for the future of the genre, Troedsson believes more innovation is required, and the end result is a consumer that is appreciative of the product. It's not necessarily about better writing or creating emotional narratives and memorable characters, it's more about an extremely high level of technical accomplishment and delivering the very best product possible. Finished Troedsson:

"I think it's our responsibility as game developers to always push ourselves when it comes to the experience of games. To always make sure that when we put games in the hands of consumers that we are proud of what we've done.

I'm not saying we're going to build an FPS that will make you cry, or anything like that [laughs]. But we want people to be amazed when they look at our games. And I think this is more important than becoming number one in whatever way you look at it - though naturally part of that comes from a very high level of competitiveness here within DICE. We want to make the best game that we can, and we want that game to be the best one on the market. If gamers think that, then we've done our job. We're not there yet, but we're working on it."

He also said they won't develop a shooter that makes us cry...but we still say someone should try.

Tags: dice, fps, first person shooter, battlefield, gaming industry

7/5/2012 8:30:35 PM John Shepard

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